Lawmakers insist that peace has been restored in Lyari but the Christian residents of Slaughter House are still scared to go back since they left the area in October last year. PHOTO: FILE
“We won’t return now at any cost,” a frightened resident who is living outside Lyari told The Express Tribune. “Who will be responsible if they [gangsters] threaten and attack us? Our daughters and young boys are not safe there.”
The eldest in a family of eight said that most members of their community want a separate residential area outside Lyari. “Peace in this area is only temporary and a political game.”
The Slaughter House, which comprises 22 buildings, was established in 1916 for the sanitary workers of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and a majority of its residents belong to the Christian community.
A member of the Christian community said that about 40 of the 600 families who left have returned to Slaughter House. “They came back as they had no other option,” he said. “Those who are back are under a lot of stress.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Javed Nagori, who is based in the area, insisted that there is complete peace in Lyari and the displaced persons have also started coming back. “Some elements are still propagating against us by issuing statements that Lyari is still not safe,” he said. “I assure you that there aren’t any no-go areas in Lyari and people can visit freely.”
Nagori also said that several development schemes have started in the area. “All colleges, schools and even dispensaries are open. The situation has become normal.”
But the residents who left their homes are scared their shelters will be occupied. “The residential area is only for the sanitary workers but around a dozen Muslim families are living in our houses now,” he said, adding that plans to occupy the compound have already been set in motion. “The administration wants to portray an image of residents returning but it is a false impression.”
The mass migration out of Slaughter House took place in October last year but none of the authorities approached the residents to help out, complained one resident. “We are poor and belong to a minority group. Who cares for the marginalised community? Who cares for sanitary workers?”
A social activist and an old resident of Slaughter House felt that the issue of minorities is not being taken seriously. “A sense of deprivation prevails in our community,” he said, on the condition of anonymity. “Though I am living out of Lyari and don’t have any intentions to go back but I am afraid of the criminal elements and they can kill me anywhere.”
Others also feel the government is not serious in providing a permanent settlement for the residents. “Life without a house is pathetic but the cost of honour and life is worse than living under threat,” he maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 18th, 2014.
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